On a winter afternoon, we decided to take a break from working on the house to explore nearby Orton Bradley Park. Just a few minutes down the road, Orton Bradley is a private park and working farm that is tucked into one of the neighbouring valleys in the bay. Named after the eldest son of the Reverend Bradley, the first person to lease the land from the local Māori iwi, the Ngāi Tahu the park covers over 650 hectares.
Our hike took us through a huge eucalyptus grove, many of which formed part of the arboretum that was started in the park in the late nineteenth century.
After a while we arrived at the aptly named ‘big rock’, and after a quick scramble up the side of the rock, we had great views out over the eucalyptus grove out towards Quail Island and the harbour. Although only a few kilometers from the house, it is amazing how different the view is from this perspective.
From our lookout perch we could see up the valley towards Mount Bradley and Sign of the Packhorse, the old rest hut that was built as part of the summit route from Christchurch to Akaroa, that we had previously walked to from the other side of the hill. From the ‘Big Rock’ we climbed steeply through a densely forested gully, following the stream until we came out higher up the hillside.
From here we had a pleasant walk back to the main park along grassy farm tracks. Our short loop gave us a taste for the park and it is nice to know that we have so many trails on our doorstep. We look forward to exploring some of the other tracks in the park soon, especially in spring when the Camelia walk and Rhododendron walk should be in bloom.